Vapor electric apparatus.



0. O. BASTIAN. VAPOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED nae. 5, 191a.

Patented Sept. 15,1914.

WITNESSES I a I r I I a. M BY v M AITORNE UNITED STATES PATENT oFrroE.

CHARLES ORME BASTIAN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO COOPER HEWITT ELECTRIC CQMRANY, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

VAPOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

Original application filed December 19, 1905, Scrial, No. 292,480. Divided and this application filed December -;-;1e1aL- seria1 No. 804,820.

To all whom.- it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES ORME BAS- 'IIAX, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and residcut of- London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improve merits in Va Electric Apparatus, of which the following isa specification.

This invention has for its object improvements in relating to. vapor electric apparatusjespeiciall lamps of the character known asIvapor e ectric lamps. Such lamps usually comprise a transparent tube with clcctrcdes therein which, in the present instance, are of vapori zable matemalfsuch as mercury. The Luminous portion o f,the tube is, accori'ling to present custom, denominated as the lmrner-, and this term is employed in the present specification. 1

With all classes cf mercury vapor lamps or other. electric vaporapparatusv it fre, quently happens that. a small quantity 0t air or other gas remains within the container or occlndedjin the mercury after the lamp has been sealed, and taken off the pump but according tothisjpart of my present invention I form on arrange in any suitable position on the lam an enlargement or tra-p into which the air may be transferred by careful manipulation and retained there by solid mercury which latter may form one of the electrodes, and the air thus trapped is thereby prevented from getting into the arc and rlisarranging the normal operation of the latter. If the said enlargement or trap be i: attached to the top of the anode (or cathode) it serves the double purpose of a cushion forthe mercury in such electrode forcing the mercury back when the circuit is broken and preventing it from sticking in the tube.

. I- have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawing which is a diagrammatic view'in side clcvationpartly in section of a burner showing the arrangement for producing the dilfcrcntial heat radiating surfaces at the respective electrodes and varying cross-sectional area of the active electrode surfaces; and for receiving and retaining foreign gases out of the arc stream.

l'le'fcrring no\v, morc particularly to the drawing:.-(L is the container tube which is of small'horc (as shown in section) adapted to retain the unvaporixcd or unionized mercury within it by the pressure of the arc stream and surface tension between said vent it passing through the arc path during the operation of the burner. In this burner shown an enlargement b at the negative electrode I) while the enlargement at the positive electrode merges into the bulb d wlnch receives the mercury displaced from bulb d is shown provided with an upwardly extending chamber 11 which is in communication with said chamber d and the tube a; said chamber 6 being adapted to receive and retain therein any small quantity of air or gas which may be sealed within the burner which 'device z I may conveniently term the air trap.

Any air or gas present at any point in the burner can by shaking or otherwise be removed into this air trap or chamber 1' and therea fter when theburner is in operation and the mercury is forced'back ,into the bulb) d and will consequently put any such air or gas in said air trap z' under more or-less turn of the mercury from the chamber (1 into the tube a ('when the burner is returned to its normal position upon discontinuance of current thereto) is facilitated. This air trap i may be placed if desired in any other convenient position on the burner e. g. it may be arranged at the negative electrode orat both electrodes.

the mercury from the bulb of has fillcdfthe small bore tube a so as to complete the circuit from b to c and then the burner reings or thereabouty electrically-operated mechanism or any'o'ther suitable means) and thereby the burner put in operation the ac tion is such that at the starting up of the and the mercury at the negative electrod ,will be about the level shown.

By the action of the electric current throughout the operation of the apparatus mercury will tend to be transferred from the positive electrode to the negative electrode and consequently the mercury will tend to accumulate at the negative electrode and Slmultancously diminish at the positive electrode and as this proceeds eventually the level the arc stream. In this arrangement this it will tend to enter saidsmall chamber 21- prcssure therein with the r'esult that the re'-- stored to the position shown in the draw.'

burner the mercury in the enlargement d small tube and the mercury or otherwise {we Assuming that the burner is tilted until body of solid mercury in the bulb d and thus an increased cooling effect on the electrode surface is obtained while at the same time the active electrode surface is increased and thereby the heat due to the passage of the current through themercury at or near this surface is diminished with the result that the temperature of the electrode falls and prevents loss by evaporization or even causes gain by condensation. As the reverse action simultaneously takes place at the other electrode a state of equilibrium is established between the amount of mercury lost and gained by each electrode from whatever cause. It do'esnot follow that this oint of equilibrium will be reached exact y at the level of the mercury indicated in the drawing as aforesaid but if the burner be arranged so that the relative cooling effect be increased at one electrode as the mercury is transferred from that electrode then it will automatically arrive at the aforesaid ,point of equilibrium and thereafter continue so to operate.

It will be obvious that if desired and where suitable the current may be passed in reverse direction through the burner illlustrated by providing a similar enlargement c at the negative electrode 0 thus enabling the "burner towork with the current reversed;

Therefore mercury dis laced from one electrode owing to the difi rence in electric potential between the-electrodes can be replaced with mercury displaced in the opposite direction owing to the difference in heat potential between the electrodes and by constructing the burner so as to utilize this discovery I am thereby enabled to establish and maintain constant quantities of electrode material at each electrode respectively without the passage of solid mercury through the arc path. v

In the following claims the terms burner" and mercury are (for the sake of brevity) respectively used to denote and include any suitable device and any suitable electrode material as hereinbefore defined or explained.

This application is a division of my application Serial Number 292,480, filed Decemher 19th, 1905. v

I claim as my invention:

'1. In a burner for a vapor electric apparatus, a tube, vaporizable electrodes inclosed therein, means for retaining the vaporizable material during operation, such means consisting of a receptacle, a chamber or space connected with such receptacle and normally sealed by the volatilizable material to form an air-tra 2. In a CHARLES ORME BASTIAN.

Witnesses: l i

TRACY LAY,

O. J. WORTH.

ovember I burner for a vapor electric apparatus, a tube, vaporizable electrodes inclosed therein, means for retaining the vaporizable 

